The Darkest Legacy (Darkest Min - Alexandra Bracken Page 0,191

it hardly mattered.

The distance between the bottom of the tank and the opening was so great that Chubs had to use his power to lift each of us out, one at a time. By the time I was through, Cate and Vida were already talking over a map spread over the sedan’s hood.

“I thought you said there were eight of you, plus the kids,” I heard Cate say as I helped one of the kids down the slippery ladder.

“It was eight,” was all Vida said in reply.

The driver had climbed out of the cab and was watching Chubs as he continued his work. Her face went slack with wonder, as if she were watching a magic trick. I started toward her, meaning to tell her how grateful we all were, but she only held up a hand.

“I don’t have to know the details about what was happening in the lab,” she told me. “I brought my boy there every week for testing until IAAN took him. You just take care of yourselves now, understand?”

Liam levitated Chubs up through the hatch first, then somehow passed Ruby from his arms up to Chubs before Chubs used his own power to raise Liam out.

At first I thought it was just the water soaking the side of his shirt, but the stain was too dark. He must have torn his stitches at some point. Chubs saw it, too, but neither of us tried to stop him as he carried Ruby across the back of the tank, and gently lowered her into Vida’s waiting arms.

Max had gathered up the kids and was trying to distract them with some story as he led them toward Cate’s van.

“I have a medic I trust meeting us at the safe house,” Cate said as she and the others passed by me, heading toward the SUV. “She’ll give us an honest answer.”

“I don’t want honest,” Liam said, sounding exhausted. “I just want good.”

“I know,” Cate said softly, opening the back door so he could climb in first. They lifted Ruby in after him.

I waved a hand at the driver, knowing she probably couldn’t see me. It didn’t matter.

Vida had already taken the driver’s seat of the SUV with Chubs next to her in the passenger seat. That left me to slip into the space in the back, with Liam and Ruby. Priyanka and Max took two of the kids with them in the sedan, and Cate ushered the rest into the van.

It was quiet and quick, with all the efficiency of people who wanted to get as far away from a place as humanly possible. We followed Cate out onto the street, and then out of town completely.

The radio remained on, buzzing quietly with the news so that Chubs could monitor it. I tuned it out, focusing instead on Liam’s labored breathing as he held Ruby. He caught me watching him, his eyes going soft. If I kept looking at him, I was going to cry, and right now, crying was the least useful thing I could be doing.

“I’m sorry about Roman,” he said.

I knew he was. I knew it was eating all of them up, the same way the pain in my chest felt like it had knotted my lungs together. I couldn’t tell him it was okay, and I couldn’t bring myself to explain what had happened, or what could happen with Roman and Lana back with Blue Star, so I said nothing at all. The longer we drove, the deeper the shock seemed to set into my system. I didn’t fight it. My silence had become a place of recovery, not a trap. Right now, I needed it.

Liam reached over with his free arm, drawing me close to his side and to Ruby.

Right now, I needed that, too.

The safe house in Dover must have been a relic from the days of the Children’s League, but I didn’t ask and Cate didn’t offer to explain. It sat at the end of an otherwise empty street, a weathered American flag still hanging from the front porch. Deeply ironic, all things considered. But it seemed secure enough, especially once we got the van into the garage and the kids into the house, so I didn’t understand why Liam looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“It’s the only one we kept open after the League dissolved,” Cate was telling him as she came back out to open his door. “Believe me, it wouldn’t have been my choice to bring either of you